In an informative piece for the Los Angeles Times, Bill Shaikin speaks with Dodgers scout Logan White about the state of the team’s farm system. Team owners Frank and Jamie McCourt are in the midst of a divorce, causing an obviously negative financial situation, yet White claims this is not affecting how he drafts.
“I don’t want people to think that because we’re not spending the money the way some teams are, we’re not getting players,” he said. “That is so far from the truth.”
Baseball America, the bible of player development, ranked the Dodgers among the top 10 in minor league talent from 2004 to 2008, then dropped that ranking to 23rd last year and 24th this year.
That happens, of course, when the likes of Matt Kemp and Clayton Kershaw graduate to the major leagues. That also happens, though, when the Dodgers spend the least of any major league club in the last two drafts, and when the Dodgers do not account for any of the 115 international signings over $100,000 in 2008.
“There’s a difference between cheap and wise,” White said. “I like to think we’re wise.”
It’s remarkable how everyone in the Dodger organization is denying that the McCourt divorce is a problem for the progression of the team. White is a smart guy, but even though he says the team has the proper funds, Dodger fans know better.
Photo from fOTOGLIF
